East Cape Fishing Report!
12/1/09
November started out with a bang and ended
with a whimper, at least as far as the size
of the fish were concerned. For the first
couple of weeks, giant yellowfin tuna were
providing thrilling battles for anglers, and
many fish were boated in the 100# class, as
well as some fish exceeding 200#. Several
distinct schools were producing results, to
the north, straight east, and to the south,
with the latter locale showing the biggest
fish. Wahoo action also was fast and furious
in early November, and while the average
size of the dorado began to taper off from
our summertime brutes, numerous dorado in
the 30-40 pound class still were showing up
in angler catches.
Striped
marlin and sailfish action likewise was
steady in early November, but diminished
toward the end of the month. A few blue
marlin were in the mix, but it looks like
this will be one of the years when the blues
and blacks will have vacated the East Cape
by December. Our November “big fish”
highlight was a 500#-plus black marlin
caught to the north off Punta Pescadero.
Unfortunately, the fish died during the
fight and could not be released.
In many years, marlin action for the blues
and blacks continues through November, along
with plenty of striped marlin and some
sailfish enjoying our temperate seas.
Thereafter, striped marlin, dorado, and
small yellowfin tuna provide most of the
action, along with pargo, sierra mackerel,
and some yellowtail. With water temperatures
still in the low 80-degree range, fishing
continues to be good leading into December.
Inshore,
good numbers of juvenile roosterfish and
plenty of sierra mackerel are offering
delicious table fare for light tackle
anglers. A few roosterfish in the 20-30
pound class still are being caught and
released. Plenty of live sardines are
available for bait. We had plenty of chunk
squid for bait in early November with the
Humboldt squid schooling just a mile
offshore, but the “Diablos Rojos” (Red
Devils) have vacated our waters, leaving us
with the usual mackerel and ballyhoo to use
as baits for marlin, plus larger dorado and
tuna.
East Cape Fishing Report!
10/31/09
We’ve been fortunate to dodge the hurricanes
this year, with only three close calls to
report for the entire season. Our third
storm of the year, Hurricane Rick, was a
predicted strong storm that did a sudden
vanishing act and diminished to a Tropical
Storm in the 24 hours before it made
landfall. All we received on the East Cape
was an overnight rainstorm. Hurricane Season
ends with another year of no consequential
storms.
The
yellowfin tuna bite dropped off a bit after
the storm passed, but anglers are still
enjoying good success catching ahi. The fish
are ranging across the size spectrum, and
some real giants still are being caught.
Another bonus is much of the action is close
to shore, so boats aren’t making long runs
in the morning to find good fishing. Chunk
squid, live sardines, and trolled cedar
plugs, hootchies, and feathers are all
successful strategies.
Speaking of squid, the Humboldts (Rojo
Diablo) are still giving us a great morning
bite just a mile offshore from Hotel Palmas
de Cortez. These ferocious four-foot
calamari provide an excellent fight
(averaging ten minutes) when snagged out of
300 feet of water. They serve as an ideal
chum bait for tuna.
Dorado fishing remains very consistent,
although average size has fallen off a bit
after the storm. They fish are very
numerous. Many 10-15 pound dorado are being
caught, and anglers are keeping a few, but
releasing
many of these smaller fish to reproduce and
grow. Dorado of these sizes are already
spawning adults, and the females release
eggs for fertilization by the bulls every
second day. Dorado also enjoy phenomenal
growth rates, reaching 50-pounds-plus in
just 18 months. It pays to let ‘em go, so
they can grow! Plenty of dorado are being
kept for anglers to freeze and bring home as
well. The pool bars are busy serving up fish
tacos, dorado ceviche, and ahi sashimi.
A few blue marlin are being hooked, along
with striped marlin, but the best billfish
bite has been for sailfish, which are
congregating in hunting pods and offering
some awesome acrobatic action when hooked.
The East Cape is more renowned for
world-class marlin fishing as opposed to
sailfish, but typically in late summer and
fall we see good numbers of Pacific sailfish
from time to time. Mixing in a few
catch-and-release sailfish with the other
species makes for a very rewarding fishing
day! Anglers fishing for marlin also are
encountering a few wahoo, but overall wahoo
numbers have dropped off from the high
points in August and September.
East Cape Fishing Report!
9/30/09
The yellowfin tuna bite remains hot here on
the East Cape! We’ve had an AWESOME month of
fishing (following on the heels of an
excellent tuna bite in August), with both
tremendous numbers of fish being caught, as
well as some real bruisers. Many anglers
have been lucky to break the incredible
200-pound mark for tuna in the past couple
of weeks. We’ve even seen some upper
200#-class fish landed (eg. 264#, 279#,
282#) and we’re hoping to see a 300# landed
soon. For those of you reading who are not
familiar, yellowfin tuna in these size
classes are absolutely brutal fighters and
will test the wills of the most steadfast
angler, as well as the limits of
conventional fishing gear.
In
addition to plenty of whoppers, the overall
yellowfin numbers continue to impress.
Virtually all of our fleet that is focusing
on tuna fishing is limiting out, with most
fish between 40-90 pounds. Impressive fish,
to say the least—and delicious table fare.
Some footballs are mixed in, as well as the
giants mentioned above. A 200# tuna that may
take 2-3 hours to land definitely cuts into
your fishing day! The tuna are biting on
chunk squid, sardines, and trolled cedar
plugs and feathers, as well as small and
medium profile marlin lures.
Dorado fishing remains wide open as well.
Ever since our fishing grounds were grazed
by the lone hurricane of the season to track
in our direction (125 miles out), we’ve had
some of the best dorado fishing in recent
memory. 15-40 pound fish are the norm, with
plenty of mahi mahi on the upper end of that
size range. Sardines, hootchies, and trolled
lures are producing most of the dorado.
Wahoo
fishing also has been good, especially first
thing in the morning. Anglers trolling
Marauders and Rapalas are having the best
success. The wahoo are averaging 40 pounds.
With so much focus on the great tuna and
dorado bites, not as many boats in our fleet
are focusing on billfish. Sailfish are
available, and a number of nice blue marlin
have been caught in the past week. Inshore,
the roosterfish bite is tapering toward
smaller, juvenile members of the species,
and some nice pargo also are being caught.
Calm seas, hot sun, cold drinks, and some of
the best big game fishing you can imagine is
going on right now on the East Cape!
East Cape Fishing Report! 8/31/09
The big excitement regarding the fishing on
the East Cape right now is the yellowfin
tuna bite, which has just gone wild in
August. Hundreds of fish are being landed by
our fleet each week, and the size of the
fish ranges across the spectrum. While many
footballs are in the mix, there are many
40-50 pound ahi being caught in limits.
Additionally, quite a few fish between 50-90
pounds
are available. The biggest tuna caught
recently weight 179 and 220 pounds! So we
are seeing some real bruisers mixed in with
the good numbers, meaning everyone is having
a lot of fun catching tuna right now. Most
of the action is to the south of the hotels,
offshore from Los Frailes and points further
south. Live bait, trolled cedar plugs, and
hootchies are taking most of the tuna.
Dorado fishing remains excellent. Fish are
ranging in size from 15-45 pounds, with lots
of 30-40 pound mahi mahi available. A big
school remains loosely scattered just 1-2
miles offshore from Hotel Punta Colorada,
but many fish are being landed to the south
5-15 miles offshore as well. With the hot
tuna bite to the south, few boats are
running to the fishing grounds northward,
but boats that do head north are reporting
good dorado action offshore from Punta
Pescadero and in the vicinity of the “88”
reef and Isla Cerralvo. The fleet is
contacting many large dorado offshore while
trolling for marlin.
Speaking
of billfish, quite a few big sailfish are in
East Cape waters right now, as well as some
striped marlin, but the blue marlin bite has
tapered off quite a bit from July. We have
seen numbers of blues caught and released
each week and a few brought to the scales,
including a 550-pounder. Try to release all
billfish—they are a precious resource!
Wahoo action is steady, with usually a
couple of fish being landed each day, in a
nice size range of 40-60 pounds. Inshore,
cabrilla, pargo, jack crevalle, and
roosterfish are rounding out the action,
although roosterfish action is less than
stellar right now. With sea surface
temperatures in the high 80’s, fish
metabolisms are racing and the bite is on!
It’s a great time to be fishing on the East
Cape!
East Cape Fishing Report! 8/1/09
The
marlin season is wide open right now, with
lots of reports coming in on blue marlin as
well as striped marlin. Good numbers of both
species are in our East Cape waters right
now, with the stripers running 120-200
pounds and the blues ranging from 150-450
pounds. For a Triple Slam, anglers also are
catching numerous Pacific sailfish in the
100-150 pound classes. The famous
billfishing our region is known for is
providing a lot of exciting fishing days for
our anglers right now!
The yellowfin tuna bite improved
dramatically this month, with a real spike
during the dark moon phase. Many boats
fishing for tuna were limiting out. Most of
the ahi are running in the 20-50 pound
range, with many 40-50 pound fish available,
and a few have topped 100# as well. A
57-pound dorado won the mid-July Dorado
Shootout, and many fish are being caught
from 30-40 pounds right now. If you’re
seeking a cooler full of ahi or mahi mahi
fillets, now’s a great time to be fishing on
the East Cape! The tuna are biting wherever
schools of porpoises are found, and are
taking hootchies, cedar plugs, feathers, and
live bait, while the dorado are biting both
trolled marlin lures and pitched live baits.
Wahoo
are numerous and big. Plenty of 40 pounders
are around, with some even bigger. As is
typical with whaoo, one day the bite is hot,
the next it’s non-existent. One charter
caught thirteen wahoo in just a few hours
fishing one morning recently!
Inshore, a 75-pound roosterfish leads the
news, but many more large roosters are being
caught near Punta Colorada and around Punta
Arena and south toward Las Barracas. Mixed
in are good numbers of pargo from 12-15#, so
there are plenty of fish to stretch your
lines along the beach. Great multi-species
fishing—and lots of great-eating fish for
the grill—is happening right now on Baja’s
East Cape!
East Cape Fishing Report
7/1/09
Both yellowfin tuna and big dorado are
leading the way as far as the current East
Cape offshore bite. Good numbers of
yellowfin are available, biting on a live
baits (primarily chummed sardines) as well
as cedar plugs and hootchies. There are
several distinct schools, including fish
straight east at both 20 and 32 miles, and
both close to shore and 30-40 miles offshore
to the south. Plenty of schoolie
football-sized fish are coming in as well as
some nice bigger ahi.
The
dorado bite is tapering a bit but good
numbers still are available. The biggest
story is the average size of the mahi-mahi,
with many fish being caught in the 40-pound
class. The fish are striking trolled marlin
lures, trolled feathers and hootchies, as
well as live bait including sardines and
mackerel. The dorado are ranging far and
wide across the Sea of Cortez on all compass
points.
Striped marlin continue
to be caught, but many more fish are being
seen than are being hooked. The billfish are
nice-size, 140-200 pounds. No blue marlin
have been caught recently. Rounding out the
offshore action is a pretty good wahoo bite,
especially to the south off Los Frailes and
Los Cerritos.
With the good bite for tuna and dorado, fe
anglers are pursuing roosterfish, although
some big fish are available inshore. Pargo
also can be caught inshore. Hot summer
fishing on the East Cape is here!
East Cape Fishing Report
6/1/09
The big news is the arrival of schools of
yellowfin tuna in East Cape waters. Last
week, nice-size tuna started showing up,
with some ahi in the 120-150 pound class
being caught, as well as many 50-60 pound
fish. Then, just as quickly, the big ones
disappeared and for the last week all we
have in the area are schoolie football-sized
yellowfin. Nonetheless, the arrival of
numbers and size of tuna always brings
optimism and excitement to Sea of Cortez
anglers. Usually, some yellowfin are around
much earlier in the season than has been the
case this year…but now the tuna have
arrived!
Striped
marlin are everywhere. Literally dozens of
fish can be seen in a day of fishing. The
average size is truly amazing, with 120-210
pound fish the norm. Most of these are the
big females in our region to spawn, so
catch-and-release of ALL billfish is
critical. Fish are seen jumping as well as
tailing on the surface, and are susceptible
to both trolled lures as well as pitched
live baits. There is a huge abundance of
bait right now in East Cape waters—hoards of
mackerel, caballitos, ballyhoo, and
calamari, as well as bucketfuls of sardines.
The marlin are gorging on bait.
Dorado
fishing remains spectacular on the East
Cape! Loads of mahi mahi between 20-40
pounds are being caught on both lures and
live bait, and the bite shows no signs of
slowing.
Inshore, both pargo and roosterfish are
available in good numbers. Drifting or
slow-trolling sardines are producing most of
the hookups. Good numbers of roosters to 25
pounds are available, and as we approach our
peak months for roosterfishing
(May-June-July), expect the big bruisers up
to 80 pounds to start showing up. Jack
crevalle and a few amberjack are in the mix
as well. Wahoo fishing has been slow.
East Cape Fishing Report
5/15/09
It's a mighty fine time to find yourself in
the southern Baja right now, as the fishing
is really good in East Cape waters right
now! Leading the way are good numbers of
striped marlin in our fishing grounds to the
north, east, and south. While most of the
stripers being contacted straight east are
offshore 22-35 miles, it's only 10-12 miles
out to the north or south to find marlin
feeding and jumping around on the surface.
We
have awesome amounts of bait right now, with
plenty of live mackerel, caballitos,
balllyhoo, and plenty of sardines to fill
the baitwells. Marlin are being caught on a
variety of trolled lures and of course
pitched live baits and rigged ballyhoo. A
few sailfish are mixed in, and we've had our
first blue marlin of the season as well! All
in all, billfishing is looking really good
right now in the Sea of Cortez.
Dorado continue to lead the way in terms of
numbers of fish caught. There are simply
hoards of dorado, with the bigger bulls and
cows smashing trolled marlin baits, the
rigged ballyhoo, and some hootchies and
feathers being trolled at the rear of the
spread. Plus, plenty of mahi are being
spotted on the surface, and are easy targets
with some sardines for chum and some hooked
liveys tossed their way. The dorado are
ranging in size from 15 pounds up to 40
pounds-plus right now.
Wahoo
are pretty common right now as well,
especially early on in the fishing day and
if they don't snip you off with their
razor-sharp teeth. Inshore, roosterfish to
25 pounds are available, as are assorted
pargo, cabrilla, triggerfish, and numerous
sierra mackerel. The fishin's good, the
eatin's great right now on the East Cape!
Fish tacos for everyone!
PS: Not a SINGLE case of swine flu reported
in the entire southern Baja, so.... "why
worry?"
East Cape Fishing Report
5/1/09
Dorado fishing has been spectacular on the
East Cape for the entire month of April, and
shows no signs of slowing. A dead whale
floating to the east produced literally
hundreds of fish for our anglers, while a
dead seal was also a highly productive
locale for dorado to the north off Punta
Pescadero. Live sardines and both live and
dead mackerel are readily available as bait,
with most
of the dorado coming on sardines, as well as
a variety of artificial lures like Storm
WildEye Live Mackerel and Live Mullet
swimbaits and various Rapalas. The best news
of all is the relative size of the
dorado—with most fish exceeding 20 pounds,
plenty of fish hooked up in the
30-pound-plus range, and even a few bulls
over 40 pounds. Awesome! With
warmer-than-normal sea surface temps, the
dorado fishing is definitely ahead of
schedule this year.
The billfish bite is comprised almost
exclusively of striped marlin, with a few
sailfish mixed in. Trolled lures and pitched
live mackerel are doing the trick on the big
game species. Points north and east are
producing fish, with most of the marlin
being contacted 10-15 miles offshore of
Punta Pescadero, and 20-25 miles offshore
straight to the east.
Inshore, roosterfishing has been excellent
and is far outpacing our usual April bite
for this popular species. While lots of
juvenile fish are the primary catch, a few
roosters in the 20-30 pound range have been
hooked. Plenty of sierra mackerel are
available inshore, as are pargo and cabrilla,
so a variety of species that make excellent
table fare are rounding out the inshore
bite. Some jack crevalle are starting to
school inshore as well.
East Cape Fishing Report
4/15/09
For this Fishing Report, we're going to do
something a little different. We received a
wonderful e-mail from some first-time
guests, Bruce and Kelli Mack from Snohomish,
WA, who just returned from a fishing
vacation at Hotel Punta Colorada. The e-mail
provides a much more detailed Fishing Report
that we are accustomed to publishing, and
offers some of the finer details that better
articulates the East Cape fishing experience
than we traditionally publish in our
reports. Enjoy!
"To East Cape Resorts & the staff of
Hotel Punta Colorada,
Thanks so much for your help in putting
together our trip to Punta Colorada and the
awesome Sea of Cortez. Kelli & I had a
blast, everyday. I was a little nervous when
our first full day started out with a strong
North wind and there were people saying how
it usually blows like that for three days,
then calms. As there was no live bait
available that day because of rough water,
we opted to postpone our first cruiser trip.
That was fine. It gave us a chance to chill
out from our travel day, catch sierra off
the beach and find cool shells.
Much to our relief, the next day dawned with
calm seas and we boarded the "Mahi Mahi" for
what was to be a very memorable day. Not ten
minutes into trolling, Kel fought and boated
what turned out to be the prize of our trip,
a very large wahoo, estimated by our
skipper, Ramon, to be right around 80 lbs.
We were also told this was the first wahoo
of the season for all the East Cape Resorts
and that it's very lucky to get one without
the use of wire leader. That's cool, we'll
take it! I was also able to get the first
striped marlin of my life, a respectable 180
or so pounds, according to Ramon. Those
things are brutal, what an awesome
experience! The day finished out with a
dorado for each of us, both around 20-25 lbs
and encounters with 5 more marlin that
didn't seem interested in either lures or
live mackerel... that's fishing. What a
killer first day on the water!
Our
second cruiser day was all about dorado, 12
to 40 lbs, big school under floating debris,
as many as you wanted to reel in and glass
seas. What else can I say? Oh yea, seven
more marlin sighted, one on briefly and
another moderately interested in a pitched
live mackerel. Our crew of Ramon, Torino and
Diego were great... It would've been fun to
fish with them even if catching wasn't so
good! You can tell they really love to fish.
Day three on the water was aboard the panga
"Robert", skippered by our excellent guide,
Pedro. Started out going North for bottom
fish. Mostly sierra and pargo... lots! Then
back South near the lighthouse for roosters.
Got four, up to 25 lbs and a 35 lb "corel"
(jack crevalle). Pound for pound, great
fighters and very fun on our light steelhead
rods with 15 lb test. I'm sure we would've
gotten smoked had we hooked any of the
larger roosters that will be arriving soon.
Then, after roosters, Pedro took us out a
few miles for a quick shot at another
marlin. We saw several and actually watched
one grab one of the teasers. Unfortunately,
the hook didn't stick and the fish vamoosed.
Oh well, another great day!
Our
fourth and last day was again aboard the
"Robert". This is a very nice, new panga and
it gave us a comfortable ride in the rough
seas. Because of the conditions, there was
no live bait available so we set out to
catch our own. We caught 4 bonita and kept
two as bait. Even the bait down there is fun
to catch! We saw a few marlin and had a
couple bites from dorado but the bonita
would be it for the day. It was a slow
fishing day for us and the rest of the fleet
but we still had great fun fishing with
Pedro.
Equally fun for us, was casting from the
beach. We surf fished most mornings with the
sunrise, every evening before dinner and, on
our off days, a little bit mid-day. We
always hooked something, mostly sierra but a
lot of others too, even a couple roosterfish
right in front of the hotel. In all, I think
we caught 17 different species. There was
tons of bait out front with lots of bigger
fish and pelicans chasing it. I've included
an awesome picture that one of the other
guests took, thousands of sardinas being
chased by a school of jacks. This feeding
frenzy occurred two hours after we arrived
at Punta Colorada. We saw it again our last
night there, but not to the same degree.
Anyway, thanks again and thanks to the great
staff at Punta Colorada. Manuel and Yadi in
the front office, Johnny the bartender,
Carlos & Carlos in the dining room, Norma
our housekeeper, Alejandro, Alfonso and all
the other folks whose names we didn't catch
- all were friendly and helpful. We will be
back, it's just a matter of when.
Sincerely,
Bruce & Kelli Mack
Snohomish, WA"
East Cape Fishing Report
4/1/09
Dorado are definitely leading the overall
catch rates right now in the East Cape, with
many boats getting multiple dorado daily.
The fish are seemingly everywhere, and are
being spotted on the surface or are blasting
trolled marlin lures. Live sardines and both
live and dead mackerel are catching fish as
well. Many of the dorado are schooled, so
multiple hookups are possible. The fish
range in size from 10# up to 30#, so some
really nice-sized mahi-mahi are coming in.
Fish tacos, ceviche, and fresh mahi steaks
for dinner are definitely on the menu!
Striped
marlin are numerous, but have been off the
bite somewhat in the past week, which was
surprising considering it was the dark of
the moon. Some boats are enjoying multiple
hookups and catching and releasing one to
three stripers in a day, but many more fish
are being spotted tailing on the surface.
Unfortunately, many of these tailers are not
taking a pitched bait, not even a lively
mackerel! Some fish are coming into the
spread and are being hooked on lures as
well. One bonus: marlin are as close to
three miles offshore, so the action starts
right away in the morning for anglers
targeting billfish. Marlin boats are fishing
as far as 28 miles offshore, where a
significant surface temperature break has
been congregating both billfish and plenty
of dorado.
Rather
unusually for the East Cape waters, a
variety of shark species have been available
to anglers. An ongoing early morning bite
for thresher sharks has been occurring just
a few miles offshore from both La Rivera and
Punta Pescadero, and a few mako sharks have
been coming into the marlin lure spreads or
taking live baits meant for schools of
dorado. Our captains tell us that blood in
the water from numerous gaffed dorado (when
the boats target schools) are drawing in
makos to the dorado fishing spots. A few
makos have been up to seven feet in length.
Additionally, a number of juvenile
hammerhead sharks have been seen cruising on
the surface.
Inshore, sierra mackerel are numerous, with
fish taking both trolled Rapalas as well as
slow-trolled sardines. The waters near La
Rivera and Punta Arena have been most
productive. Also inshore, roosterfish are
starting to show up in good numbers,
although the fish are on the small side
(3-15 pounds). Of course, our peak
roosterfishing season is in June and July,
when fish up to 90 pounds are hooked.
With striped marlin and mahi mahi in
abundance, Spring fishing is in full swing
here on the East Cape!
East Cape Fishing Report
3/1/09
The winter season northerly trade winds,
which were noticeably inconsistent in
January, returned in February and limited
the days when anglers could fish
comfortably. However, on days when the fleet
was on the water, fishing was very good.
Excellent numbers of striped marlin are
being contacted to the south of the resorts,
south of Los Frailes. Here, warmer currents
are congregating schools of mackerel and
marlin are feeding aggressively. Multiple
hookups are possible. A few nice wahoo in
the 40-pound class also are being reported
from these waters.
Dorado
fishing has been impressive, with many 15-25
pound fish available. Our biggest mahi mahi
usually show up during the summer months,
but we are seeing both numbers of fish as
well as good average size already. It could
bode well for an awesome year of dorado
fishing!
Yellowfin tuna are available, with schools
of footballs in the region, as well as the
chance to catch some bigger fish in the
30-40 pound range.
Inshore, sierra mackerel and pargo are
numerous and easily
caught. A few yellowtail are being reported
from inshore waters to the north near Punta
Perico.
We’re approaching the furious Springtime
bite for striped marlin, which really gets
going in March and April, and with plentiful
dorado and tuna in our waters—along with
several other popular species—it’s a great
time to be planning a fishing trip to the
East Cape!
East Cape Fishing Report
2/1/09
Fishing has been excellent on the East Cape
in the month of January, provided the wind
isn’t blowing. We typically get some pretty
good northerly trade winds in January, and
this year has been no exception, although
we’ve been pleasantly surprised by the
number of calm days as well.
We’ve got ideal sea surface temperatures to
report as well. While we typically are
fishing 71 degree water at best in January,
this year we’ve been able to access 74-76
degree water. This is the preferred
temperature for striped marlin, and boats
are catching and releasing multiple fish per
day via a combination of trolled lures and
pitched live mackerel. All of the fishing is
taking place in our fishing grounds to the
south of the hotels, from Los Frailes to
points further south, anywhere from 4-22
miles offshore.
Wahoo
are on a heady bite right now as well,
especially early in the morning. The fish
are running big—40 pounds and up—and of
course make excellent table fare. A few
wahoo also are showing up in lure spreads
while trolling for marlin, and are being
brought to the boat provided their
razor-sharp teeth don’t slice the mono
leaders used for marlin lures.
Dorado fishing is excellent. The fish are
plentiful in East Cape waters right now, but
are running small (10-20#) which is typical
for winter. Nonetheless, when contacted,
dorado are filling the boats and thus
anglers’ coolers. Sardines are the bait of
choice for dorado right now.
A few yellowfin tuna schools are in the region,
with football-sized fish being the primary
result. Some bonita (blackfin tuna) also are
available. Inshore, plenty of pargo
(snapper) and small grouper can be caught,
and a few nice yellowtail have been showing
up too. The real story, however, are the
sierra mackerel, which are absolutely thick
inshore right now, congregated near the Las
Cuevas Arroyo outflow, up and down the
shoreline in front of Hotel Punta Colorada,
and near Punta Arena (Lighthouse) and
further south near Las Barracas. Trolled
Rapala X-Raps and Magnums--and
chumming/slow-trolling with live
sardines—are the main tactics for catching
plenty of sierra mackerel right now. This is
one of our most delicious species to eat!
East Cape Fishing Report
1/20/09
Striped marlin fishing has been very
consistent so far this winter, and has been
especially good in the past week to
accompany calm seas. While we generally see
some windy days due to our northerly trade
winds during the month of January, we've had
quite a few glorious sunny, calm days as
well, making fishing on the Sea of Cortez
both fun and productive.
Sea
surface temps in the 73-75 degree range are
within easy reach of our fleet, exclusively
to the south of our resorts. Boats are
running to Punta Arena (The Lighthouse) and
south to Los Frailes and even toward the
Gordo Banks. Here, numerous striped marlin
are available. Most boats targeting marlin
are catching and releasing 1-3 marlin daily,
with some even better days.
Plenty of small dorado are being caught. The
fish are generally 10-15 pounds but make
excellent table fare. A few fish tacos and
ceviche at the pool bar, a side dish for
dinner, and a full cooler of mahi mahi
fillets for the trip back home are the
benefits of the good dorado fishing!
Sierra
mackerel are numerous along the inshore
fishing areas near La Ribera and Punta
Colorada. Sardines and trolled Rapalas are
catching the sierra. This species is
super-delicious when pan-fried in butter and
seasoned with a dash of salt and pepper. Not
only are many sierra being caught, but they
are averaging a nice size as well, so
anglers are getting some great fillets. A
few pargo (snapper) are mixed in with the
inshore bite.
Sunny skies, beautiful weather, and steady
fishing make it a great time to visit the
East Cape! With the good striped marlin
fishing already this month, the fishing
should be fantastic in February, March, and
April!
East Cape Fishing Report
11/30/08
Dorado
are leading the way as far as the fishing
action here on the East Cape. The fish are
numerous, and good numbers of big fish are
being caught up to 40+ pounds, as well as
many smaller fish. Schools of smaller dorado
are being found near-shore, with the bigger
dorado coming from offshore fishing grounds
by boats fishing for marlin.
Speaking
of marlin, there are still quite a few
striped marlin around and the occasional
blue marlin, but the billfish action
definitely is tapering off as our peak
season winds down.
Inshore, juvenile roosterfish are being
caught on sardines and sierra mackerel are
showing up in catches as well. Pargo and
cabrilla also are available.
East Cape Fishing Report
10/30/08
The overall fishing hasn't changed much for
the past two weeks. We're still seeing some
good action for yellowfin tuna, dorado,
striped marlin, sailfish, wahoo,
roosterfish, and pargo, as well as some blue
marlin and even one black marlin.
The
best news is probably the average size of
the yellowfin tuna. Although the fishing
spots are hit-and-miss from day-to-day, when
some tuna are located, anglers are hooking
some really nice fish from 40-80 pounds, and
even several 150# class ahi. A good day
fishing anywhere! A pesky north wind has
made the long run to find tuna a bit
uncomfortable, but for those willing to hunt
for tuna, the rewards are there.
Dorado action has slipped in the past two
weeks. Although numerous dorado
are
still being caught, the action isn't as fast
and furious as it was in early October.
Schoolies are being located near-shore
around Punta Colorada and Punta Arena, out
from Cabo Pulmo, and to the north near Punta
Pescadero. A few brutes in the 30-45 pound
class are being caught offshore by anglers
trolling for marlin and searching for tuna.
One black marlin and a number of nice blue
marlin were caught recently. Sailfish action
remains steady with good numbers of 100#
class fish being caught; occasionally, boats
are finding a pod of sails and hooking up
two or three fish at a time. Quite a few
striped marlin have been caught and released
in the Sea of Cortez in the past two weeks
as well.
Inshore, hoards of juvenile roosterfish are
available, being caught primarily on
sardines. A couple of big roosters also have
been caught and released. Some dandy pargo
are being caught, along with a few cabrilla
and sierra mackerel, to round out the
inshore action.
East Cape Fishing Report
10/15/08
Overall fishing in the East Cape waters has
been consistent but not spectacular, as we
are accustomed to in October! We had a
slight hiccup last week as Hurricane Norbert
threatened the Baja Peninsula, but the storm
was significantly weakened by cool Pacific
waters, and by the time it made landfall,
several hundred miles north of the East
Cape, it was a non-issue. We did pull the
fleet from the water for one day as a
precaution, but everyone was back fishing
the next day as all we had were some
blustery winds and a sprinkle of rain.
Hurricane season concludes with no storms
adversely affecting the East Cape!
Sailfish
lead the way as far as the billfish bite.
Boats heading north out from Punta Pescadero,
and also fishing close to shore near La
Ribera, are encountering sails. The fish are
coming up in the spread or being spotted on
the surface, where they are susceptible to
pitched live mackerel, caballitos, or dead
ballyhoo. We have seen some blue marlin in
the area in the past week, and two fish that
expired during the fight were weighed--220#
and 385#. Several others were released.
Dorado numbers are pretty strong. Boats are
occasionally running into schools of fish
and enjoying multiple hookups. The schoolies
are averaging about 15#, but some larger
dorado up to 40# are also being caught,
primarily by boats fishing for marlin.
Dorado are prevalent in all directions out
from the hotels, with more schools being
encountered off Punta Pescadero to the north
and Punta Arena to the south.
Most
boats are beginning their fishing days by
hooking one or two Humboldt squid that are
coming up from the depths just a mile
offshore from Palmas de Cortez. These
"Diablo Rojos" are putting up a tremendous
battle of amount ten minutes per angler
before coming to the gaff. These
four-footers make excellent cum and chunk
baits for tuna. Unfortunately, the tuna are
ranging far and wide and there seems to be
no consistent pattern to hookups. The best
school was 57 miles out at last report. It
contains numerous tuna averaging 40 pounds,
and quite a few fish over 100 pounds have
been caught. A monstrous 360 pound yellowfin
was brought to the scales last week after a
four-hour battle. Other loose schools of
tuna are near Cabo Pulmo, Los Frailes, and
La Ribera, but again--inconsistent. We
continue to hope that the yellowfin bite
takes off again as we get later into fall!
Inshore, excellent fishing is available for
juvenile roosterfish, sierra mackerel, and
pargo, as well as a few cabrilla and
triggerfish. Smaller dogtooth are close to
shore in shallow water, and some awesome
40-pounders are being found on the seamounts
offshore from Punta Colorada. Sardines are
the primary bait of choice for inshore
species right now, although early morning
trollers (with Marauders) are having the
best success for nice-sized wahoo.
Sea surface temps range from 88-92 and our
daytime highs are 95, cooling to the high
70's at night.
East Cape Fishing Report
9/30/08
Fishing has been consistent but not
spectacular recently on the East Cape. We've
got a variety of species biting both inshore
and offshore, and plenty of fish overall to
catch, but the action isn't fast and furious
like we sometimes expect in September.
Sailfish
lead the way as far as billfish are
concerned, with good average size and good
numbers of fish available. Most of the sails
are in the 90-120# range and are being taken
on trolled marlin lures as well as pitched
dead ballyhoo. Trolled skirted ballyhoo also
are bringing the fish up and into the
spread. In addition to the sailfish, a
number of blue marlin 200-350# have been
caught and released, and after a dropoff in
the striped marlin bit a week or so ago, the
fish are back in our waters and also
susceptible to both trolled lures and
pitched dead baits.
Dorado action is fantastic, with many boats
limiting out on the mahi each day. Earlier
in September the average size fish were
10-15# (with many chickens being released),
but in the past week the fish are running
20-25#. Dorado are one of the
fastest-growing fish in the sea (fully-grown
adults only live to be 2 years old), so it's
not surprising to see our average catch
increase so rapidly. Many of the fish are
being caught near Cabo Pulmo drifting
sardines, or trolling hootchies to the south
of Los Frailes, and it's not uncommon to
have schools of dorado surrounding the boat
and producing multiple hookups.
Tuna
fishing was better early in September, and
while overall catch rates have dropped, the
average size has increased to 40-50#.
Several yellowfin over 1000# are being
caught in the mix. Chumming and
deep-drifting with squid and sardines, and
trolled hootchies and cedar plugs, are
taking most fish. Many boats are stopping to
hook Humboldt squid in the mornings just a
mile offshore from Palmas de Cortez, making
for some great calamari steaks as well as
awesome bait!
Inshore, some wahoo are being caught on
trolled Marauders, and roosterfishing is
steady near Punta Colorada and La Rivera
drifting live sardines on light tackle. Most
of the roosters are running 2-5 pounds. |
